CARLSBAD  Fast-thinking school officials and an on-campus defibrillator may have helped save the life of an 11-year-old student who went into sudden cardiac arrest at Hope Elementary School in Carlsbad this week.

“What’s amazing about the story is how many people rose to the occasion,” Hope Principal Richard Tubbs said Thursday. “There isn’t one hero.”

The girl collapsed at about 9:40 a.m. Tuesday as she was entering the cafeteria at recess, Tubbs said.

When Tubbs and other staff members rushed to her aid, they discovered she had no pulse, he said. They grabbed the school’s automatic external defibrillator, more commonly known as an AED, and used it to restart her heart.

The student — whose name has not been released — also received CPR until paramedics arrived. On Thursday, Tubbs said he was waiting to hear an update on her condition from her family.

The girl was the second North County student in two years who may have been saved by an AED provided by San Diego Project Heartbeat.

In December 2010, Rincon Middle School student Ian Quinones collapsed in cardiac arrest during a physical education class. A school nurse used an AED on Ian, who was taken to a hospital and treated for a heart condition that had gone undetected.

All other schools in the Escondido Union School District were supplied with AEDs the following year.

The Carlsbad Unified School District became the first in the state to supply all its campuses with the devices in 2006, but the Tuesday incident was the first time one had been used.

Custodian Catherine Torres was vacuuming the cafeteria’s entrance when she noticed the girl on the ground, said Tubbs, who was nearby at the media center setting up rainy-day activities for students.

“I have an unconscious child,” Tubbs radioed to office assistant Julie Price after coming to the scene. Price called 911 and Torres ran to notify health technician Jennifer Thirkell, who was in the restroom.

“She has no pulse,” Thirkell said as she checked on the child. While Thirkell began administering chest compressions on the girl, Tubbs headed to the front office to retrieve the AED.

Meanwhile, cafeteria worker Lisa Beveridge, who is new at the school, had gone into the teachers lounge to ask about the location of the AED.

Instructional assistant Jennifer Caraglior said that was all she needed to hear.

“I didn’t ask why,” she said. “I just moved.”

Caraglior said she grabbed the AED from a wall in the front office and was headed out the door when she bumped into Tubbs. While he continued inside to retrieve a breathing mask to use with CPR, Caraglior took the AED to the cafeteria.

Caraglior opened the AED container and handed it to Thirkell, who placed electrical pads on the girl. Both had been trained to use the device.

“It’s intense, but the training paid off,” Thirkell said. “There wasn’t time to be afraid.”

An automated voice in the device instructs people how to use the AED, which monitors vital signs and applies a shock if needed.

While focused on saving the girl, school staff members had the presence of mind to shield other students from what could be a traumatic sight. Teachers ushered children away while librarian Pam Crumb and art teacher Amy Miller held a blanket and room divider to give privacy to the adults helping the girl.

Paramedic Dan Beebe, a training coordinator with Project Heartbeat, said the for-profit company manages 8,000 AEDs in locations throughout the county, including in 22 school districts.

The Hope Elementary School student was the youngest of the 107 people who have been saved by the devices over 10 years, he said.

The incident was especially meaningful to Kim Blaylock, who retired from the Carlsbad Fire Department seven years ago.

Blaylock’s daughter, Kendra Rose Blaylock, was a student in the Carlsbad district when she died of sudden cardiac arrest in 2001.

After attending a fundraiser to pay for AEDs for a Washington school district where another student had died, Blaylock said he and his wife, Michele, decided to organize fundraisers for Carlsbad.

He learned about the Tuesday incident from old buddies in the fire department who knew of his connection to the AEDs.

“I basically said, ‘I love it,’ Blaylock said he replied to his friends.

“To save a girl’s life, what a beautiful gift to give to a family at Christmas,” he said.